First Things First…
So far, Magneto and Sabretooth have been the only supervillains the team has dealt with. After last episode, it looks like they’re getting a break. I’m not sure what’s in store next, but there are all kinds of interesting directions they can go.
1 Thing I Like
1. Team Training
I liked the scene of the team training in the War Room early in the episode, not so much because I loved the training itself, but because of what it represents.
The way Professor X talks to them while they’re training, it seems like this is all pretty new to them. I assume they’ve all been at the mansion for awhile (except Jubilee, obviously) but these battles with supervillains and Sentinels are new. They know they still need to gel as a team, and it’s not taken for granted that they’re going to win every battle.
To hammer that point home, the professor brings up Morph’s death. I love the continuity, and how that’s being used to drive them to get better.
2 Things I’m Mixed On
2. Storm’s Claustrophobia
During their training session, Storm loses control when the room starts to close in on them, as she’s trying to keep the ceiling from crushing them. Again, there’s the briefest glimpse of a flashback to her as a little girl. It might’ve been the same glimpse we saw last episode. She then mentions having claustrophobia. I like this follow-up.
But later, it looks like Storm already solves the issue. Since this episode brings the team to the sewer, and through some tight tunnels, she’s forced to face her fear head-on. It’s a little touch-and-go for a minute, but she gets through it and seems to have conquered her fear afterward.
Maybe they’ll continue to revisit this. I was just hoping for more about the roots of this issue, and I would’ve expected—and appreciated—more of a struggle.
1. Morlocks
In theory, the Morlocks are a very cool idea. They’re mutants who are so deformed and hideous that they can’t pass for humans, so they believe they can’t live among humans. Instead, they have their own little underground society.
In practice, though, I didn’t like them. Maybe if we got to know more about them as individuals, and how they came together, I’d appreciate them more. Instead, they just seem like a group of weirdos who aren’t very compelling, who get defeated by the end of the episode, and who suddenly aren’t such bad guys after all—through no positive actions of their own.
2 Things I Don’t Like
2. Wolverine Is a Lovesick Puppy
This is where the famous meme of Wolverine lying on his bed in full costume, ogling a framed picture of Jean, comes from. It’s bizarre…
And then we see later that after helping lead the rescue effort, Wolverine has fled the mansion. But he left behind that picture torn in half, so Scott isn’t in it anymore.
I get how important the love triangle among Wolverine, Cyclops, and Jean is to X-Men lore. But man, they make Wolverine not only look weak and desperate here, but super creepy.
1. Lightsaber Duel and Storm’s Promise
The Morlocks aren’t good guys. Sure, maybe they’re victims of circumstances beyond their control. And for that, they deserve some understanding—even pity.
But they didn’t decide to just live their sad lives underground without bothering anyone. From the little we see of them, they do terrible things. Most egregious is that their leader, Callisto, threatens Jean’s life as a means of blackmailing Cyclops into ruling by her side and providing her with an heir.
Yet Storm challenges Callisto to a duel with weapons that look like lightsabers. By winning the duel, Storm wins leadership of the Morlocks. Then she offers them all safe haven at Xavier’s mansion.
What?!
They tried to kill you all—except Cyclops, who they want as a glorified sperm donor! Yet you want to bring them into your home? Utterly absurd.
Of course, the Morlocks turn down Storm’s generous offer. And since she’s not actually gonna hang there and rule, she gives leadership right back to Callisto, the psycho who just used Jean’s life for the purpose of sexual coercion.
Storm may have acquitted herself well in battle, as the professor says to her later, but her decision making is highly questionable.
Tim Matassa
